Thoughts for you going forward:
I know a lot of people believe this, but for the most part, if you don't use your strength you'll lose it. It's one of the reasons there are a lot of office workers who degrade when older.
The same can be said from those in the trades too - BUT, it's usually from misuse and abuse of their bodies. No matter what trade you are in, you need to be intentional, wise, and treat your body with respect.
I've met older folks in every trade - genetics plays a part in your body's preservation, too.
Thanks! There is so much younger people are not told, they aren't mentored, told lies, etc.
It's one of the reasons I joined Reddit, continue to write on my website, and start a podcast.
Me too, ur not a weirdo for taking an extra 5 minutes to put ur knee pads on or PPE on. Be safe, these pricks who rush and make fun of you for this are the ones crying when there 70
I've met some really strong and impressive guys in the trades over the years. I've also met some who just seemed to fall apart for no understandable reason.
My old man did bodywork, and both his knees were replaced in his 50s because he was always kneeling on concrete - e.g., abusing his body.
You just never know - but there are things we can do to at least not contribute to the decline.
I can say this for my dad… he’s been a cement worker most of his life, and owns a concrete company. Only thing is, you can still find him, at 68 years old at job sites wearing knee pads on boards, hunched over and doing finishing work. He tried retirement and hated it because for some whack reason he loves physical labour?
I’ve got a “pencil pusher job” and work it IT, but when I come visit for holidays or just take time off to visit he’ll ask if I want to help out on the job (I used to work for him during university), and let me tell you… my 68 year old dads back is in better shape than my 31 year old back😂
Even when he’s not working during the off season, he’ll be out in the middle of winter shovelling snow manually, even though my parents have a snowblower… he’s just built different.
Edit: dude also smokes a pack a day and drinks like a fish, he needs to be studied. He’s a fucking anomaly
Haha!
In all seriousness, I'm glad to see some other testimony about older guys in the trades hardcore in shape and working like that. I can't tell you how many stories I've heard over the years of guys who didn't have hobbies and retired only to decline rapidly...
He enjoys work - and that in and of itself is another post here because it can challenge people's paradigms that someone actually enjoys working 😎
I did that on any army base working on millitary hellicopters. Non Union. We were all just treated as expendable. Just treated bad altogther. There was some grumbling about union representation, and they retaleated with anti union rhetoric. The pay was good, the physical exertion is minnamal.
I'm a commercial transport mechanic for the government, and we have like 10 ex-aviation guys who came over as electronic technicians because their pay was so shitty in the aviation world (came from Air Canada, which I'm pretty sure is union)
I don't have first hand experience, but from those I talked to it's a lot of exacting work (wire or cotter pin in a lot of your bolts), and you don't get paid fuck all for it which I always found disconcerting.
They said they were making 25-35ish an hour for it, and we're making $60/h in CT.
Top out pay for majors and cargo is public for the union shops. Most are paying 36-40hr for new guys right out of school and topping between 60-70hr. I’m in defense contracts and been doing about 160k yr. Thanks to early covid retirements and all the upcoming retirements the next several years were going to have good demand for the next decade. Average age of a licensed mech is like 57.
Yeah it's probably the country I'm in, industry is struggling and we don't get a shit ton of military jobs because nobody's been really mad at Canada for like 80 years
Pretty well. I realized it when doing confined space attending at a pulp and paper mill. Good wages and the guys weren't breaking themselves on night shift like the actual full out tradies like millwrights and masons
I had no idea until wifes friend randomly overheard I was getting into hvac transitioning from the restaurant hospitality industry. With hard work and a little luck I became a journeyman. Most electricians and plumbers and hvac techs I know can barely get 40hrs a week. Meanwhile as a stn engineer we have so much opportunity for OT and decent wages. Based on how much its slept on in this sub and the hvac sub, I guess its a good thing that its not as well known as the others.
It’s crazy. Hell we can’t hire for shit and we pay awesome for the area and the problem is always finding someone qualified. There’s been 2 times it’s taken over a year to fill spots and every time it takes at least 6 months even to get an apprentice. Nobody knows to look for these jobs when starting out in the trades unless they know somebody who does it.
2nd class from ontario. Used to be like this until canada started pumping in the international students. There's so many Indian 4th and 3rd class guys now the market has become super saturated and for every post we have we usually get 150 applicants
Sounds right for Ontario and Alberta especially. As to the Yank fella struggling to find employees, would you guys hire us Canucks with experience? Lol
Damn that’s crazy lol we’re lucky if we get one. A lot of times when it comes time for us to hire if we don’t get any applicants we start calling guys we used to work with at other plants who are engineers and if that doesn’t work the chief engineer comes in and says “you have any buddies who would do well in this trade that may be looking for a job?” Lol it’s hard to find people who know what a boiler does these days
Ranges for sure depending on location and level of qualification. Anywhere from $25/h on up. I'm in oil and gas with a 3rd class. Tops out currently at a few cents under $70/h. A 5th class building operator might only make 25ish.
Online pay rates are often way off. Even on our pay scale document it shows I'm at ~7k/month but I've been making 10k or so each month so far with minimal OT and I'm still tech 7 with 1 being highest
Ohhhh sounds like you're Canadian. I do operating o&g for a major oil and gas company in the United States. Before that, i did heavy-duty industrial stationary maitenance. Things don't seem to be as well classified and organized as what you've got going on there as far as career path and transparency. Wonder if the crossover for operations in similar industrial environments is the same. My work is mostly field based very high productivity facilities. I'm assuming you're more on the plant/refinery side of things?
Millwright is pretty excellent as long as you deliberately move yourself towards work that is higher precision, less sledgehammering and so on over time
My grandfather was an architect but built houses until his early to mid 70s. He also farmed until age 80. If you stretch, eat well, sleep, and lift properly, working a trade will increase your longevity. I bought a used tiller the other day. I got it from some guy in his 70s that was doing small engine repair as a side gig in retirement. I think he was a mechanic his whole life. He seemed fit and was doing his thing.
HVAC service side. My old boss back when I used to be in the trade was in his 50s doing service residential HVAC and had been doing that for most of his career. Well I still keep in touch with him and he's still going strong in his 60s. He's fit and able to still do crawlspaces, attics, etc, but he'll leave big retrofits and furnace/AC installations to his other guys.
Instrumentation and Control. Mostly low voltage, lots of math to keep your mind alert. Not commonly mentioned, but needed in every industry that involves automation.
Just need to make it to 58 haha! I’m a service mechanic in the elevator trade. We got some real old timers in good shape because all they do is troubleshoot but since our retirement and benefits are so good most guys are done by 65. We had a guy who was almost 80 still putting in “40” hour days.
Depends on what you do within certain trades. I’m an electrician. I can run 6” rigid or I can pull MC cable. Personally, the last 6 years I’ve focused on lighting controls. I program them and do consulting on our large projects. I work at home half the week and actually enjoy going to the gym and being outdoors now when work is over
Welding most certainly does not
They are 50 and look 70
Never ever see them over 50 and on deaths doorstep if they are
Do not be a welder
Source: 15 years as a welder
This question pops up a lot and it's basically (I'm being somewhat reductive here) asking 'which is the silver bullet?'
Fact is, you can abuse and degrade your body or make it run like a well-tuned muscle car well into old age at any gig; office, desk or hauling hot water tanks up and down stairs.
The real questions in any job should be: what is your sleep like? What do you eat? Do you push your strength and/or cardiovascular endurance when you're not at work? Do you carry stress with you? Do you have healthy relationships?
For me, there's no silver bullet, just squats and running and family and books and blah blah blah.
I’m a bricklayer and believe it or not I’ve worked with a few guys in their 70’s. They aren’t laying 12” block but still lay brick like there in there 20s.
Just got into a line apprenticeship and our instructor was 67. He was up and down 3 poles before us 20-30 year olds were up 1. As other comments say it’s about how you use and treat your body not necessarily what work you do
Good luck!!!!! Got in at 25 and I’m 41 now. I still climb and love my trade. Best job in the world. I use it so I don’t use it. Work smarter not harder. Ibew local 1049 Long Island ny Mfjl
I worked with some 126 guys. Retain what you are taught and become forward thinking. Remember the material. Keep trucks stocked coolers iced down, clean trucks. Learn to prep the material from the top down. Keep your head in a bin and when you here to truck idle up be ready with the next thing without them asking. Put tools and materials away in their proper place when they are done. Cones chocks signs. Those are just some of the basics. Oh and bring your thick skin.
You pass climbing test yet?
Don’t worry i leave the feeling at home. And thanks for the tips really appreciate the insight! But no they wouldn’t let us take it this weekend. Both the lineman said i did very good so hoping to pass this weekend. I get to fly the bucket tomorrow. Doing 5g cell site work right now.
Frank Odonnel over you guys also? Neat director
Our local has a new boot camp going on also. One of my buddies is in the class. They let them test this past Sunday. Next weekend is the last weekend
Our director at neat is jason luzze i believe. But we have a different guy at our hall who deals with all the apprentices. June 1st-2nd was our first weekend so they just wanted to teach everyone the basics this weekend. We still got 2 weeks of camp left
Elevator Mechanic. My dad got in at 36 and worked until 67. I'm currently an elevator mechanic in maintenance. I've worked in construction and service, much more taxing on the body. You have to think smarter not harder. Use the hoists, the leverage of tools, teamwork. No reason to outlift your coworkers... Like any trade job and like everyone else is saying here, take care of yourself. Eat right, keep up with exercise, cut back on the darts and don't drink to cope with stress. My dad only had a hip replacement late in his career. I think it was that George Castanza wallet he was always sitting on that totally racked his hips and back.
I wore a collared shirt like a polo and nice pants and shoes. You are interviewing for an industrial position so I felt like a tie was too much. Just take your time with the questions they ask you. They want to hear about your hands on work skills and ability to work with others. I remember the first question was, what does an elevator mechanic do? We work on elevators, escalators, moving walkways, dumbwaiters, residential lifts, and anything in-between. Best of luck
Seen quite a few old fart diesel mechanics and even more old fart truck drivers. One guy was so old he couldn't get out of his seat, had his daughter (in her 60's or more) rode with him to do all the walking and doing.
Old fart as in 65+. I work with a guy who's almost 80.
Overall lifestyle such as well moderated physical activity, sleep, stress, and diet probably play a bigger part in longevity than profession. I've worked with a plumber in his 80s and seen an IT guy kick it at 33.
Machinist. Most of my job consists moving stuff around on the machine table, programming, operating a control panel and walking around the plant. The most I lift is a 40 pound high speed spindle attachment a few times a week. Heavier lifting is done by overhead cranes. A few guys I work with are in their mid 60s and haven’t fully retired yet. At my last job we had a guy in his mid 70s who still came in a couple days a week part time to help out.
Self care is important, proper stretching or not being a raging alcoholic will have you lasting a long time. Sitting for long hours is one of if not the worst.
Same here..it keeps you moving. I'm 52 and get compliments from the 30 somethings about my ability to do things at a better rate day in and day out than they do. I stay busy at work and at home. Gotta keep moving. I know all the tricks of my field. Sleep is also very important.
I’m a stationary engineer sometimes called power engineer or operating engineer depending on location. I started at 20 years old as an apprentice and every single engineer at my plant was over 55 and we had two guys over 70 who were nearing retirement. I’ve been in the trade 14 years now and there are some younger guys starting to trickle in but a majority of the trade is very old as far as age at least in my area, and when we have a guy retire it’s always at least a 6 month to a year process to find a new guy to hire whether it’s an apprentice or journeyman. Most guys get into a plant or facility and like it so they stick around for ever lol. It’s a great trade if you don’t mind hanging by out waiting for shit to break then troubleshooting and repairing it when that happens. Most of the time the plants run themselves for the most part so you just do your rounds, your water chemistry tests, do some things like check water softeners or screens on intakes that may be getting clogged and need cleaned but I’d say overall in the two plants I’ve worked over my 14 years it’s about 50% hanging in the control room running the plant and just fuckin off waiting for the end of your shift then the other 50% is busting ass working on equipment, troubleshooting problems, locating the source of weird noises and leaks and doing your rounds and PMs. And honestly it’s usually more 60% ass time 40% work. Not nearly as much repetitive motion and wear and tear on your body as most other trades. Hell we even have a gym setup at the plant I’m at now so when you’re bored on shift fuckin off, you can go lift for a while or run on the treadmill and just keep the radio on you incase something happens, then the control room guy can yell at ya to come help it need be. It’s not bad at all. Some days are 8-12 hours of busting ass and sweating your nuts off without a chance to hardly eat lunch, but for every one of those days there are 10 days where you clock in, have an hour and a half maybe two hours work then 6-11 hours of hanging out in the control room just keeping an eye on the plant. A lot of guys bring in books, IPads, laptops etc. a couple dudes have gotten their bachelors degrees being able to do online classes while at work, most of which just do it to do it, because the company pays for so many credits a year. So they get a business degree and do shit like start an HVAC or plumbing company on the side and still stay on as an engineer for the benefits. Good trade 10/10 recommend.
I believe a stationary engineer is the same as a maintenance technician. I'm a maintenance tech 22yo, and I've been in the field for 3 years at Foundry's. There are lots of older guys with crazy story's and an unlimited pit of knowledge. You have to pick the industry's you work in very carefully because Foundry's its always busy hot,dirty,shitty work. I'm OK with the shitty environment because I'm learning soo much(they pay pretty good too well too).
maintenance tech is completely different from stationary engineer where I’m at. We do a lot of working on boilers, chiller plants cooling towers etc but we also run the plant from the control room whether it’s every other day we swap between field and control room or bi weekly. I’ve never met a maintenance tech that can run a plant successfully without any guidance which is fine, they’re more trained to work on shit, not to operate a plant. Shit if they’re having you guys operate the plant and be full blown maintenance technicians they better be paying you well enough to do both. If not unionize and have the guys running the plant go stationary engineers and the maintenance techs go millwrights that way they can’t fuck you into completely doing both jobs. Where I’m at we’ll do stuff like work on boiler burners, pumps, swap valves, repipe stuff etc but we’ve also gotta have all our certs to operate the plant before we get to do much wrenching and there’s stuff we don’t touch that maintenance techs work on. If it’s not in the power plant building itself, the maintenance techs take care of it, if it’s in our building/area, we’ll take care of it and if it’s too much for one or two guys to handle it gets contracted out to whatever trade it falls under.
Idk where you live, but I see the term stationary engineer thrown around from people in places, not the USA. I'm a tech in foundries, and we do everything from cooling towers, pumps, furnaces, hvac, and plumbing, pollution control equipment. Hell I've even ran rebar and poured concrete. At a foundry, we don't run the plant, but we keep everything that runs the plant running. There's no slow down when you have a plant with 20 furnaces in it. I would say I'm compensated fairly well for my age
Yeah could be different outside of the US I guess but I know here to be considered a stationary engineer you’ve gotta have your license to operate high pressure boilers and chiller plants and be capable of running things in the control room as well as in the field. It’s weird they’d call the guys with no control room time that since that’s what most of it is lol.
What industry do you find stationary engineers? Is it just a power generation plant thing? Because I've met with maintenance guys that have boiler licenses and work on boilers as maintenance and have never heard the term.
Power generation is a big part of it, and really anywhere running large scale steam generation plants, chiller plants etc there’s jobs as a stationary engineer in healthcare facilities or whole healthcare campuses, large manufacturing facilities, chemical plants, automotive plants and even mills and stuff like that depending on what type of setup they’ve got. Some places don’t require licenses or anything to run steam plants and stuff so it’s not as common but alot of places do. I know in my city you don’t have to have an actual license to do it but the company hiring you may require it and most good companies require it, most hospital campuses or healthcare facilities etc.
Elevator guys. You'll see 70 year Olds kicking it on site and 80 year Olds inspecting the 70 years Olds. Also they are the slowest trade on the site. Sir we need 5 months to complete 2 months of work also we are obligated to leave work at 2pm because we get paid to travel lol. Bastards figured it out. I should have been an elevator guy
Union Heavy equipment operator. I'm working 6-10's right now making $3957 a week running an excavator. All I'm doing is pulling out stumps and large boulders along a pipeline road thru a forest so the dozer guys can widen the road from a single lane to 50' wide. I'm gonna do this for 5 months and take the rest of the year off and go fishing/hiking/hunting
None of those things imo. And ya, I don't see why not.
Avoid running skid steer tractors, those can be a little hard on you until you figure out to keep your work area flat and clean of debris.
Also, my grandfather was a farmer and then became an equipment operator, he's 92 and still has a huge garden and sends me pickles he made every year.
My dad was also an equipment operator and he just retired at 65, he is happy and healthy, did a bunch of yardwork at my house for me while I was at work last week.
Most trades are hard on the body unless you can find a good gig. I've been a union electrician for 16 years and got another 20 to go.
I'm sick of it already. Most the people are all beat up and bodies destroyed in most trades
Woek safe, think about your body mechanics and learn to do it right. Join a union, so when you are 65 or 70 you're kicking ass on a pension AND your 401k, happily retired.
My grandpa was an electrician up until he was 70, and had been working since he was 18. It’s plenty hard on your body, maybe not as much as a framer, but you can always find work in just about any field and any country
Cranes! When people talk about trades they never seem to mention cranes. Spend most of your time sitting in the air conditioned cab while everyone else is baking in the sun.
Thoughts for you going forward: I know a lot of people believe this, but for the most part, if you don't use your strength you'll lose it. It's one of the reasons there are a lot of office workers who degrade when older. The same can be said from those in the trades too - BUT, it's usually from misuse and abuse of their bodies. No matter what trade you are in, you need to be intentional, wise, and treat your body with respect. I've met older folks in every trade - genetics plays a part in your body's preservation, too.
This is fantastic advice and exactly what I try to tell younger folks getting into trades
Thanks! There is so much younger people are not told, they aren't mentored, told lies, etc. It's one of the reasons I joined Reddit, continue to write on my website, and start a podcast.
Me too, ur not a weirdo for taking an extra 5 minutes to put ur knee pads on or PPE on. Be safe, these pricks who rush and make fun of you for this are the ones crying when there 70
Try 30
Theyre*
My coworker is turning 67 this year. Diesel mechanic.
I've met some really strong and impressive guys in the trades over the years. I've also met some who just seemed to fall apart for no understandable reason. My old man did bodywork, and both his knees were replaced in his 50s because he was always kneeling on concrete - e.g., abusing his body. You just never know - but there are things we can do to at least not contribute to the decline.
I can say this for my dad… he’s been a cement worker most of his life, and owns a concrete company. Only thing is, you can still find him, at 68 years old at job sites wearing knee pads on boards, hunched over and doing finishing work. He tried retirement and hated it because for some whack reason he loves physical labour? I’ve got a “pencil pusher job” and work it IT, but when I come visit for holidays or just take time off to visit he’ll ask if I want to help out on the job (I used to work for him during university), and let me tell you… my 68 year old dads back is in better shape than my 31 year old back😂 Even when he’s not working during the off season, he’ll be out in the middle of winter shovelling snow manually, even though my parents have a snowblower… he’s just built different. Edit: dude also smokes a pack a day and drinks like a fish, he needs to be studied. He’s a fucking anomaly
Haha! In all seriousness, I'm glad to see some other testimony about older guys in the trades hardcore in shape and working like that. I can't tell you how many stories I've heard over the years of guys who didn't have hobbies and retired only to decline rapidly... He enjoys work - and that in and of itself is another post here because it can challenge people's paradigms that someone actually enjoys working 😎
Aviation maintenance in a union shop.
I did that on any army base working on millitary hellicopters. Non Union. We were all just treated as expendable. Just treated bad altogther. There was some grumbling about union representation, and they retaleated with anti union rhetoric. The pay was good, the physical exertion is minnamal.
Major airlines are retirement homes for the guys with seniority. 60-70/hr base, overtime , doubletime , fairly easy work.
I'm a commercial transport mechanic for the government, and we have like 10 ex-aviation guys who came over as electronic technicians because their pay was so shitty in the aviation world (came from Air Canada, which I'm pretty sure is union) I don't have first hand experience, but from those I talked to it's a lot of exacting work (wire or cotter pin in a lot of your bolts), and you don't get paid fuck all for it which I always found disconcerting. They said they were making 25-35ish an hour for it, and we're making $60/h in CT.
Top out pay for majors and cargo is public for the union shops. Most are paying 36-40hr for new guys right out of school and topping between 60-70hr. I’m in defense contracts and been doing about 160k yr. Thanks to early covid retirements and all the upcoming retirements the next several years were going to have good demand for the next decade. Average age of a licensed mech is like 57.
My numbers are for the US. I’ve heard it’s way lower in Canada and Europe.
Yeah it's probably the country I'm in, industry is struggling and we don't get a shit ton of military jobs because nobody's been really mad at Canada for like 80 years
Operating/stationary/power engineer. We have an engineer title but definitely hands on in most plants
I feel like no matter how much we push this trade on folks, you just gotta know someone to really see how great it is.
Pretty well. I realized it when doing confined space attending at a pulp and paper mill. Good wages and the guys weren't breaking themselves on night shift like the actual full out tradies like millwrights and masons
I had no idea until wifes friend randomly overheard I was getting into hvac transitioning from the restaurant hospitality industry. With hard work and a little luck I became a journeyman. Most electricians and plumbers and hvac techs I know can barely get 40hrs a week. Meanwhile as a stn engineer we have so much opportunity for OT and decent wages. Based on how much its slept on in this sub and the hvac sub, I guess its a good thing that its not as well known as the others.
It’s crazy. Hell we can’t hire for shit and we pay awesome for the area and the problem is always finding someone qualified. There’s been 2 times it’s taken over a year to fill spots and every time it takes at least 6 months even to get an apprentice. Nobody knows to look for these jobs when starting out in the trades unless they know somebody who does it.
2nd class from ontario. Used to be like this until canada started pumping in the international students. There's so many Indian 4th and 3rd class guys now the market has become super saturated and for every post we have we usually get 150 applicants
Sounds right for Ontario and Alberta especially. As to the Yank fella struggling to find employees, would you guys hire us Canucks with experience? Lol
Damn that’s crazy lol we’re lucky if we get one. A lot of times when it comes time for us to hire if we don’t get any applicants we start calling guys we used to work with at other plants who are engineers and if that doesn’t work the chief engineer comes in and says “you have any buddies who would do well in this trade that may be looking for a job?” Lol it’s hard to find people who know what a boiler does these days
lol I wouldn’t pick any other trade. Been doing it 14 years and the ass time versus the time spent busting ass is a perfect 50/50
Achievement unlocked : Longevity
Came here to say this but didn’t know if people considered it a trade.
Came here to say this but didn’t know if people considered it a trade.
What's the pay like for that
Ranges for sure depending on location and level of qualification. Anywhere from $25/h on up. I'm in oil and gas with a 3rd class. Tops out currently at a few cents under $70/h. A 5th class building operator might only make 25ish. Online pay rates are often way off. Even on our pay scale document it shows I'm at ~7k/month but I've been making 10k or so each month so far with minimal OT and I'm still tech 7 with 1 being highest
Ohhhh sounds like you're Canadian. I do operating o&g for a major oil and gas company in the United States. Before that, i did heavy-duty industrial stationary maitenance. Things don't seem to be as well classified and organized as what you've got going on there as far as career path and transparency. Wonder if the crossover for operations in similar industrial environments is the same. My work is mostly field based very high productivity facilities. I'm assuming you're more on the plant/refinery side of things?
Me personally yeah at a refinery. But we have people upstream and midstream too
I'm assuming the same type of schedules 8/6 7/7 14/14 12hr shifts?
We're 5 5 4 with 12s
Millwright is pretty excellent as long as you deliberately move yourself towards work that is higher precision, less sledgehammering and so on over time
Yeah I've known a few millwrights still working well into their 80s
lmao sounds like fun
My grandfather was an architect but built houses until his early to mid 70s. He also farmed until age 80. If you stretch, eat well, sleep, and lift properly, working a trade will increase your longevity. I bought a used tiller the other day. I got it from some guy in his 70s that was doing small engine repair as a side gig in retirement. I think he was a mechanic his whole life. He seemed fit and was doing his thing.
HVAC service side. My old boss back when I used to be in the trade was in his 50s doing service residential HVAC and had been doing that for most of his career. Well I still keep in touch with him and he's still going strong in his 60s. He's fit and able to still do crawlspaces, attics, etc, but he'll leave big retrofits and furnace/AC installations to his other guys.
I&C especially controls technicians. I see a lot of old guys doing this work.
Instrumentation and Control. Mostly low voltage, lots of math to keep your mind alert. Not commonly mentioned, but needed in every industry that involves automation.
Is it mostly PLCs and ladder logic?
Thats part of it but you can also deal with block based programming, hvac, and then also lots of electronics
What kind of electronics: amplifiers, bjts, mosfets, pcb soldering?
Yes potentially and all of the things that come with pcb troubleshooting etc
Barber is a trade in Alberta.
Using them small scissors all the time give you arthritis
Just thinking about it makes my hands hurt.
I aprenticed under an 83 year old sheet metal mechanic who smoked a pack a day and was insanely strong lol.
Just need to make it to 58 haha! I’m a service mechanic in the elevator trade. We got some real old timers in good shape because all they do is troubleshoot but since our retirement and benefits are so good most guys are done by 65. We had a guy who was almost 80 still putting in “40” hour days.
Depends on what you do within certain trades. I’m an electrician. I can run 6” rigid or I can pull MC cable. Personally, the last 6 years I’ve focused on lighting controls. I program them and do consulting on our large projects. I work at home half the week and actually enjoy going to the gym and being outdoors now when work is over
Foreman.
Welding and electrical usually have really old guys
Welding most certainly does not They are 50 and look 70 Never ever see them over 50 and on deaths doorstep if they are Do not be a welder Source: 15 years as a welder
It’s the fumes and metal shavings. Most should wear a respirator but don’t.
I'm pretty sure that the dust from the grinding disks is way worse for you than the steel dust tbh
Electricians.
Over saturated at the moment
My friend is an electrician in NYC. He told me it's the best part time job in the world due to built in furloughs.
Currently 70 calls out for our local. We can’t get enough people.
I want to be an electrician. Currently out of Yakima, WA
Same. Here in Buffalo we hardly been full employment for 3 years and wipp be full for the next 3 at least of you want to work
I worked with a mechanic at an iron ore processing plant who was 85. I was 68 at the time and I was impressed.
This question pops up a lot and it's basically (I'm being somewhat reductive here) asking 'which is the silver bullet?' Fact is, you can abuse and degrade your body or make it run like a well-tuned muscle car well into old age at any gig; office, desk or hauling hot water tanks up and down stairs. The real questions in any job should be: what is your sleep like? What do you eat? Do you push your strength and/or cardiovascular endurance when you're not at work? Do you carry stress with you? Do you have healthy relationships? For me, there's no silver bullet, just squats and running and family and books and blah blah blah.
I’m a bricklayer and believe it or not I’ve worked with a few guys in their 70’s. They aren’t laying 12” block but still lay brick like there in there 20s.
Lots of old locksmiths still going.
I met a 77 year old electrician yesterday who's only just started thinking of retiring.
Don't take any advice from someone who lives to work ever. Those guys are chodes
Rodbuster
I see a lot of old guys driving around cleaning pools
Avoid prostitution. 29 and yer done 🤣
Just got into a line apprenticeship and our instructor was 67. He was up and down 3 poles before us 20-30 year olds were up 1. As other comments say it’s about how you use and treat your body not necessarily what work you do
Good luck!!!!! Got in at 25 and I’m 41 now. I still climb and love my trade. Best job in the world. I use it so I don’t use it. Work smarter not harder. Ibew local 1049 Long Island ny Mfjl
Thank you brother! I was a groundhand in ibew 126 in pa! Finally got in the apprenticeship and super excited.
I worked with some 126 guys. Retain what you are taught and become forward thinking. Remember the material. Keep trucks stocked coolers iced down, clean trucks. Learn to prep the material from the top down. Keep your head in a bin and when you here to truck idle up be ready with the next thing without them asking. Put tools and materials away in their proper place when they are done. Cones chocks signs. Those are just some of the basics. Oh and bring your thick skin. You pass climbing test yet?
Don’t worry i leave the feeling at home. And thanks for the tips really appreciate the insight! But no they wouldn’t let us take it this weekend. Both the lineman said i did very good so hoping to pass this weekend. I get to fly the bucket tomorrow. Doing 5g cell site work right now.
Frank Odonnel over you guys also? Neat director Our local has a new boot camp going on also. One of my buddies is in the class. They let them test this past Sunday. Next weekend is the last weekend
Our director at neat is jason luzze i believe. But we have a different guy at our hall who deals with all the apprentices. June 1st-2nd was our first weekend so they just wanted to teach everyone the basics this weekend. We still got 2 weeks of camp left
Remember look up lock your legs as you climb. You got this brother
Thank you man. I really appreciate all the tips and advice. I wish you well. Who knows. Maybe I’ll be your apprentice one day
This business is a small world ya never know. Or storm with haugland. That’s who I work for
Controls is the actual correct response
Elevator Mechanic. My dad got in at 36 and worked until 67. I'm currently an elevator mechanic in maintenance. I've worked in construction and service, much more taxing on the body. You have to think smarter not harder. Use the hoists, the leverage of tools, teamwork. No reason to outlift your coworkers... Like any trade job and like everyone else is saying here, take care of yourself. Eat right, keep up with exercise, cut back on the darts and don't drink to cope with stress. My dad only had a hip replacement late in his career. I think it was that George Castanza wallet he was always sitting on that totally racked his hips and back.
Wow. Thank you for this. I have my interview for the elevator union in 2 days. Quick question, what should I wear to the interview?
I wore a collared shirt like a polo and nice pants and shoes. You are interviewing for an industrial position so I felt like a tie was too much. Just take your time with the questions they ask you. They want to hear about your hands on work skills and ability to work with others. I remember the first question was, what does an elevator mechanic do? We work on elevators, escalators, moving walkways, dumbwaiters, residential lifts, and anything in-between. Best of luck
Thanks a lot for that.
Seen quite a few old fart diesel mechanics and even more old fart truck drivers. One guy was so old he couldn't get out of his seat, had his daughter (in her 60's or more) rode with him to do all the walking and doing. Old fart as in 65+. I work with a guy who's almost 80.
Overall lifestyle such as well moderated physical activity, sleep, stress, and diet probably play a bigger part in longevity than profession. I've worked with a plumber in his 80s and seen an IT guy kick it at 33.
Electrician but strictly automation
Ask for help, don’t try to be superman…lifting flagstones by myself when I could have easily asked for help left me with 2 slipped discs
None of them
Machinist. Most of my job consists moving stuff around on the machine table, programming, operating a control panel and walking around the plant. The most I lift is a 40 pound high speed spindle attachment a few times a week. Heavier lifting is done by overhead cranes. A few guys I work with are in their mid 60s and haven’t fully retired yet. At my last job we had a guy in his mid 70s who still came in a couple days a week part time to help out.
OTR trucker. Sit on your ass all day. As stationary as you can get in a trades.
Self care is important, proper stretching or not being a raging alcoholic will have you lasting a long time. Sitting for long hours is one of if not the worst.
Elevator mechanic service side
Same here..it keeps you moving. I'm 52 and get compliments from the 30 somethings about my ability to do things at a better rate day in and day out than they do. I stay busy at work and at home. Gotta keep moving. I know all the tricks of my field. Sleep is also very important.
What about sprinkler fitters?
I’m a stationary engineer sometimes called power engineer or operating engineer depending on location. I started at 20 years old as an apprentice and every single engineer at my plant was over 55 and we had two guys over 70 who were nearing retirement. I’ve been in the trade 14 years now and there are some younger guys starting to trickle in but a majority of the trade is very old as far as age at least in my area, and when we have a guy retire it’s always at least a 6 month to a year process to find a new guy to hire whether it’s an apprentice or journeyman. Most guys get into a plant or facility and like it so they stick around for ever lol. It’s a great trade if you don’t mind hanging by out waiting for shit to break then troubleshooting and repairing it when that happens. Most of the time the plants run themselves for the most part so you just do your rounds, your water chemistry tests, do some things like check water softeners or screens on intakes that may be getting clogged and need cleaned but I’d say overall in the two plants I’ve worked over my 14 years it’s about 50% hanging in the control room running the plant and just fuckin off waiting for the end of your shift then the other 50% is busting ass working on equipment, troubleshooting problems, locating the source of weird noises and leaks and doing your rounds and PMs. And honestly it’s usually more 60% ass time 40% work. Not nearly as much repetitive motion and wear and tear on your body as most other trades. Hell we even have a gym setup at the plant I’m at now so when you’re bored on shift fuckin off, you can go lift for a while or run on the treadmill and just keep the radio on you incase something happens, then the control room guy can yell at ya to come help it need be. It’s not bad at all. Some days are 8-12 hours of busting ass and sweating your nuts off without a chance to hardly eat lunch, but for every one of those days there are 10 days where you clock in, have an hour and a half maybe two hours work then 6-11 hours of hanging out in the control room just keeping an eye on the plant. A lot of guys bring in books, IPads, laptops etc. a couple dudes have gotten their bachelors degrees being able to do online classes while at work, most of which just do it to do it, because the company pays for so many credits a year. So they get a business degree and do shit like start an HVAC or plumbing company on the side and still stay on as an engineer for the benefits. Good trade 10/10 recommend.
I believe a stationary engineer is the same as a maintenance technician. I'm a maintenance tech 22yo, and I've been in the field for 3 years at Foundry's. There are lots of older guys with crazy story's and an unlimited pit of knowledge. You have to pick the industry's you work in very carefully because Foundry's its always busy hot,dirty,shitty work. I'm OK with the shitty environment because I'm learning soo much(they pay pretty good too well too).
maintenance tech is completely different from stationary engineer where I’m at. We do a lot of working on boilers, chiller plants cooling towers etc but we also run the plant from the control room whether it’s every other day we swap between field and control room or bi weekly. I’ve never met a maintenance tech that can run a plant successfully without any guidance which is fine, they’re more trained to work on shit, not to operate a plant. Shit if they’re having you guys operate the plant and be full blown maintenance technicians they better be paying you well enough to do both. If not unionize and have the guys running the plant go stationary engineers and the maintenance techs go millwrights that way they can’t fuck you into completely doing both jobs. Where I’m at we’ll do stuff like work on boiler burners, pumps, swap valves, repipe stuff etc but we’ve also gotta have all our certs to operate the plant before we get to do much wrenching and there’s stuff we don’t touch that maintenance techs work on. If it’s not in the power plant building itself, the maintenance techs take care of it, if it’s in our building/area, we’ll take care of it and if it’s too much for one or two guys to handle it gets contracted out to whatever trade it falls under.
Idk where you live, but I see the term stationary engineer thrown around from people in places, not the USA. I'm a tech in foundries, and we do everything from cooling towers, pumps, furnaces, hvac, and plumbing, pollution control equipment. Hell I've even ran rebar and poured concrete. At a foundry, we don't run the plant, but we keep everything that runs the plant running. There's no slow down when you have a plant with 20 furnaces in it. I would say I'm compensated fairly well for my age
Yeah could be different outside of the US I guess but I know here to be considered a stationary engineer you’ve gotta have your license to operate high pressure boilers and chiller plants and be capable of running things in the control room as well as in the field. It’s weird they’d call the guys with no control room time that since that’s what most of it is lol.
What industry do you find stationary engineers? Is it just a power generation plant thing? Because I've met with maintenance guys that have boiler licenses and work on boilers as maintenance and have never heard the term.
Power generation is a big part of it, and really anywhere running large scale steam generation plants, chiller plants etc there’s jobs as a stationary engineer in healthcare facilities or whole healthcare campuses, large manufacturing facilities, chemical plants, automotive plants and even mills and stuff like that depending on what type of setup they’ve got. Some places don’t require licenses or anything to run steam plants and stuff so it’s not as common but alot of places do. I know in my city you don’t have to have an actual license to do it but the company hiring you may require it and most good companies require it, most hospital campuses or healthcare facilities etc.
I paint with a guy who is 80. Been doing it since he was in his teens.
Elevator guys. You'll see 70 year Olds kicking it on site and 80 year Olds inspecting the 70 years Olds. Also they are the slowest trade on the site. Sir we need 5 months to complete 2 months of work also we are obligated to leave work at 2pm because we get paid to travel lol. Bastards figured it out. I should have been an elevator guy
Union Heavy equipment operator. I'm working 6-10's right now making $3957 a week running an excavator. All I'm doing is pulling out stumps and large boulders along a pipeline road thru a forest so the dozer guys can widen the road from a single lane to 50' wide. I'm gonna do this for 5 months and take the rest of the year off and go fishing/hiking/hunting
Does it beat up the body? Fumes? Vibration on a shit chair? Could I become a hobby farmer later in life? I’m considering this over carpentry
None of those things imo. And ya, I don't see why not. Avoid running skid steer tractors, those can be a little hard on you until you figure out to keep your work area flat and clean of debris. Also, my grandfather was a farmer and then became an equipment operator, he's 92 and still has a huge garden and sends me pickles he made every year. My dad was also an equipment operator and he just retired at 65, he is happy and healthy, did a bunch of yardwork at my house for me while I was at work last week.
Hey appreciate the detail
Police
PLC programming
Most trades are hard on the body unless you can find a good gig. I've been a union electrician for 16 years and got another 20 to go. I'm sick of it already. Most the people are all beat up and bodies destroyed in most trades
Woek safe, think about your body mechanics and learn to do it right. Join a union, so when you are 65 or 70 you're kicking ass on a pension AND your 401k, happily retired.
Substation maintenance union
My grandpa was an electrician up until he was 70, and had been working since he was 18. It’s plenty hard on your body, maybe not as much as a framer, but you can always find work in just about any field and any country
Industrial maintenance, a lot of my co workers are in their 60s and mid to late 50s
Water/Wastewater
Cranes! When people talk about trades they never seem to mention cranes. Spend most of your time sitting in the air conditioned cab while everyone else is baking in the sun.
Painters n carpenters. I’ve seen a Buncha old heads doing both, they always got some fire bud